Modafinil is a psychostimulant agent that has garnered attention because of its recent approval by FDA for the treatment of excessive daytime sleepiness and because of its lack of abuse liability. (Divide and Conquer. Chem. Eng. News 2004, 82(41), 20, Myrick, H.; Malcolm, R.; Taylor, B.; LaRowe, S. Ann. Clinic. Psychiatry 2004, 16, 101-119.) Recent work suggests that modafinil might also be of utility as a treatment of attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), and in treating opioid-induced sedation. (Webster, L; Andrews, M.; Stoddard, G. Pain Med. 2003, 4(2), 135-40. (b) Turner D. C.; Clark, L.; Dowson, J.; Robbins, T. W.; Sahakian, B. J. Biol. Psychiatry 2004, 55(10), 1031-40.) Although modafinil has a chiral center at the sulfur atom, the racemic sulfoxide is marketed as PROVIGIL modafinil. (world wide web at provigil.com). The exact mechanism of action of modafinil is still unknown. Efforts are directed towards finding their mechanism of action and the physiological differences of its enantiomers.
These efforts have been hindered by current processes to make modafinil, in particular, their inability to synthesize a selective enantiomer of modafinil, lengthy multiple step processes, low yields and the production of environmentally unfriendly waste. For these and other reasons there is a need for the present invention.